Free CA 35 Christmas Past by Debra Webb Page A

listened.
                She didn’t blame him.
               
                If she’d told him the
truth, would he have climbed that mountain with her?
                That part didn’t
matter. He could only see the lies.
                The telephone rang.
Molly shuffled across the room and picked up the receiver, part of her hoping
it would be him.
                “Molly?”
                Not him. Her employer, Victoria Colby-Camp.
                “Good morning,
Victoria.”
                “Are you all right? I
heard about what happened. Mr. Harris called.”
                Molly explained the
details of how they’d been ambushed in the lobby by the paparazzi and a rogue
reporter. She should have considered that once the press had seen her with
Jason they would dig until they found out who she was.
                But she hadn’t been
thinking.
                Not the way she should
have anyway.
                She’d gotten too close
to the man she was supposed to be keeping safe.
                “When are you coming
back?”
                She didn’t know how to
answer that question. She’d tried getting an earlier flight, but with the
holidays everything was booked.
                “Maybe
in a couple of days. Flights are all booked.”
               
                “Take your time, Molly.
Tomorrow’s Christmas. Enjoy Aspen. Visit your family.”
                She could do that.
                Since their mother had
died, they didn’t get together nearly often enough.
                “Mr. Fewell told Harris how you helped him achieve the goal he’d
set out to accomplish. Well done, Molly.”
                Great. At least he’d recognized that some part of their time together was worthwhile.
“He conquered his fear that once,” Molly agreed. She was happy for him, but she
couldn’t work up any real enthusiasm just now. “If he can do it once, he can do
it every time.”
                “This isn’t your fault,
Molly. You did your job. And you did it well.”
                Molly thanked Victoria
and placed the receiver back in its cradle. She plopped down on the sofa and sat, her head in her hands.
                She had been so excited
about this assignment. Her first chance to prove herself.
                Was Victoria right? Had
she done well?
                The mission was
accomplished. Molly supposed that she had done her job to the best of her
ability.
                She should be ecstatic.
                Somehow she wasn’t.
               
                She felt empty. Lost.
                Like a traitor.
                No point sitting here
feeling sorry for herself .
                She got to her feet,
dragged to the table where her cell phone lay and put through a call to her
youngest brother. He was happy to hear from her. Of course, she should come
home for Christmas, he insisted.
                With that out of the
way, she packed.
                It didn’t take long.
She had traveled light. Like always.
                She looked at the
wasted bottle of champagne one last time and left the room.
                The door closed behind
her, the thud echoing in the empty corridor.
                Alone
again.
                Funny, being alone
hadn’t bothered her at all until she’d met Jason Fewell .
                Now she was pretty much
obsessed with the idea.
                She wouldn’t be alone
for long. Her brothers would all congregate at the family home. The next to the
oldest lived in the house they’d grown up in. There would be a massive Christmas
tree. Lots of amazing food, since his wife was an